Shielded coaxial cables have a conductor core with a sheath of insulation therearound, an outer insulating jacket and a shield means, such as a braid or foil, between the sheath and the jacket. Coaxial cables of the character described are becoming increasingly miniaturized and commonly are termed "microcoaxial" cables and are used for high speed signal applications.
In order to avoid having to prepare the cables, such as exposing the braided or foil shield means in conventional crimping or soldering termination techniques, axially terminating connector systems have been designed, particularly for microcoaxial cables. In particular, signal terminals have been employed within improved connector assemblies such that the signal terminals have at least one deflectable wall portion for displacing the insulating sheath of the cable to terminate the core upon application of a force directed generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cable. U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,230 to Dechelette et al, dated May 26, 1992 and assigned to the assignee of this invention, shows a further improved connector assembly for terminating a shielded coaxial cable, in which a conductive grounding terminal means includes piercing means for displacing the outer insulating jacket of the cable upon application of a force on the grounding terminal means generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cable. Therefore, the cable can be both grounded and terminated in response to application of axial forces by very simple application tooling.
Coaxial cable connector assemblies of the character described immediately above often are mated with electrical connector assemblies mounted to printed circuit boards, particularly a header-type connector having mating signal terminal pins, along with grounding terminal pins engageable with the conductive grounding terminal means of the coaxial cable connector. This invention is directed to providing a connector assembly, such as a header connector assembly, for mating with a coaxial cable connector assembly, the header connector assembly including novel shielding means and grounding means.